Green cardamom mediated phytosynthesis of ZnONPs and validation of its antibacterial and anticancerous potential

Abstract

Different conventional methods for synthesizing zinc oxide nano-particles (ZnONPs) significantly involves physical and chemical routes. But, often these synthesis processes are quite expensive and also involve the profuse use of many hazardous reagents. To overcome these problems, we have employed a convenient single step phytochemical synthesis of ZnONPs by using abundantly available bioresource, green cardamom. Aqueous extract of green cardamom served the purpose of reducing agent in the formation of ZnONPs, as the extract contains a high amount of flavonoids which hold great reducing properties. Various characterization analyses such as XRD, UV-vis, FTIR, SEM has been done to confirm the formation of ZnONPs and their size and shape. Antibacterial activity of the green ZnONPs was identified against Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative bacterial strains. Significant growth inhibition was found against all. The further anti-cancerous potential of synthesized nanoparticles was also studied on hepatocellular cell lines showing its potential to be a trustworthy anti-cancerous agent.